This is a prelude to my upcoming trip on Etihad Airways. While I have already flown three times already with them, I will try to cover in less detail and do a kind of video trip report instead.

However i just wanted to share what caused me to fly with them again and the ordeal it has been trying to plan a trip via Dubai on two seperate tickets while trying not to obtain any transit visas.

BACKGROUND:

I had points expiring with Emirates Skywards in April this year. Since I had to fly out in Jan/Feb this year to Karachi, I was looking to get to Dubai using my Aeroplan points (which do not expire unless they remain inactive for seven years, I believe) and then use my Emirates Skywards points to fly Dubai to Karachi.

Since the past two years or so, Canadian nationals are required to obtain visas on arrival in Dubai. The facility of 96 hours transit visas is made possible only on arrival through Marhaba services but must be booked with a hotel accomodation at a cost of ( AED 450 for every 24 hours in transit, and additional AED 190 for processing of the visa on arrival) Booking in advance can be also be made by using Marhaba's online services www.marhabaservices.com.

At the same time Marhaba also provides baggage assitance service for those who are unable to leave the airport and unable to clear immigration while having to transfer in transit from one terminal to the other as I believe T1 and T3 are connected (AED 300 I believe)

THE PLAN

I had been checking with Aeroplan for flights to Dubai and some very interesting options came up including ET's 787 service from YYZ to ADD and onwards to DXB. Other inbound flights included UA the cheapest and other Star Alliance carriers like LH, AU to DXB.

On the other hand with Emirates 5 times daily flight to KHI from DXB getting a seat on those sectors seemed like a no brainer hopefully by using Skywards points and cash to buy a fare (or so I thought)

THE COST

YYZ-DXB-YYZ with Air Canada's Aeroplan

Aeroplan had flights to DXB for 80K, whereas my account had only 68K which meant buying miles for another $480 something and then paying the balance of taxes, fees etc which still made my flights on ET and UA very affordable. Flights on LH, AC were super expensive and a clear difference of some hundreds of $$$. I had read on FT that these carriers scoop a lot of dough out of you when booking with AC points. The cost of flying ET and UA to and from YYZ to DXB was working out to a mere hundreds of dollars, excluding the cost to buy the additonal points. I know I was boasting to my friend I could go to Dubai and back in less than CAD 200!!

DXB-KHI-DXB with Emirates Skywards

Emirates Skywards of 16K were not enough to go to KHI and when buying points to get to the required 24K or more, I would actually have landed up paying more for the points than actually buying a full fare ticket for around $260 compared to the overall cost of buying points for a total of $380-420 or something close to it. So it was decided to buy a full fare ticket DXB-KHI-DXB and then upgrade one way with the 16K points to J class. Again J class is not guranteed until the very last minute which could even be 24 hours before departure.

THE PERKS

Flying with Ethiopian though the fact they have just two flights a week ex-YYZ made it quite a risk factor considering should the flight go tech or delayed (common with ET), I would lose a number of days between the flights. So that was in the bin, though flying on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner would have been incredible.

Also up for grabs were flights with TK which would have allowed me a new carrier, not forgetting the incredible 777!! Also flying with UADXB-IAD would have allowed me to compare the service on an American carrier after having flown with the middle eastern carriers on this route quite a bit.

PS: I could have gone directly to KHI with Aeroplan but that required 100K, but the flights were just awesome with a round the world route such as TK (YYZ-IST-KHI), TG (KHI-BKK-NRT), NH (NRT-SFO or CHI or JFK) and AC (SFO or CHI or JFK to YYZ) Woo hoo!! But I will leave that for another time. There was also the SQ A380 option on the (NRT-SFO) route but that disappeared as the months got closer. TG's BKK-NRT or BKK-HKG were on the A380!!!

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I LAND IN DUBAI

With the carriers set into place, I decided to look around the options of transitting through Dubai without a visa. (However to obtain a 96 hour transit visa one needs to be have a transit time of at least 8 hours to a maximum of 96 hours).

1) First a call was made to Emirates who very kindly told me that since I was travelling on two seperate tickets I would need a visa to travel to Dubai. and they would not be able to do it as I was on two seperate tickets. (Emirates arranges transit visas when travelling on EK via Dubai, all the flights need to be on EK to avail their transit visa booking facilities).

2) I decided to email Marhaba who very promptly replied to my query by offering details on their 96 hour transit visa package. AED 450/- (24hrs with 03star single room with complimentary hotel pickup/drop-off, subject to availability). Please bear in mind the AED 450 is for every 24 hours, so should you decide to stay the entire 96 hours it is four times the AED 450/-...Insane!!!

I sent them another email asking about the transfer of bags between terminals and if they would do it (that is when I was informed they do it for a fee). However I broached the subject of not arriving without a visa and I got no response, so I decided to call them directly and when I mentioned the fact the flights out of and into Dubai were with Emirates they said the airline would do it for free!! So then I do not need a visa for Dubai...YAAY!! How nice Emirates would take care of my bags when I land in Dubai and put it on the Emirates flight to Karachi and when I arrive back from Karachi , Emirates will put my bags onto my Star Alliance flight....Finally I was getting somewhere!!

3) I called Emirates to confirm and let them know that Marhaba had informed me of the fact they would assist with my bags between terminals, while I continue to remain in transit and I was told that Emirates will only transfer bags on the outward journey, but when I land back in Dubai with the inbound flight from KHI to connect to my Star Alliance carrier, I would need to get my own bags... WHAT!! So then that meant I would need to apply for a visa to get to my bags, and even pay for a hotel booking just so that I can get to my bags. This meant with neither Emirates nor Marhaba handling my bags when I get back to Dubai on the return to Toronto I would need to fend for myself.

4) Left completely confused with the feedback received, that is Marhaba would not touch the bags since they were EK's and that EK would not touch my bags when I flew back to Dubai I scrapped the entire idea to fly with Aeroplan points to get to Dubai and decided to look into getting there with EK directly while still keeping the upgrade on one sector. While the flights on Aeroplan and Skywards seemed reasonably priced, the cost of hotel accomodation and visa only increased things and made it not worth the while to pay that much when I could just go with Emirates directly via Dubai, and save my 68K Aeroplan points for another time.

5) In a futile attempt to really find out about the travel to Dubai on two seperate tickets via Dubai, I called up the Canadian Foreign service hotline (I think that is what they are called) and even the person at the other end had no clue about travelling to Dubai and staying in Transit without a visa. He suggested I call the UAE consulate in Ottawa. Calling them lead to calling extensions where nobody picked up. A frantic call by hitting the 0 button to reach reception only gave a message the recepients mailbox was full....that was the last straw...I decided to just drop the whole idea of trying to travel on points. Aghh!!

Yes I know booking the transit visa would have helped but my main purpose was to travel to Dubai without doing so and just going "cheaply" with my Aeroplan and Skywards points. It is just amazing how much conflicting information was provided by all parties, that even they don't have a clue....

And that is not all....even when you get there the visa is upon the discretion of the Immigration officer....Go figure!!!

NOW THAT I HAVE FIGURED OUT TWO SEPERATE TICKETS IS NOT A GOOD IDEA

1) So I searched and searched for days and jumped at the idea of a CAD 1575 YYZ-DXB-KHI-DXB-KHI which would take me on the might A380 to and from Toronto, while I would enjoy the upgrade on preferably the outbound flight so I could relax in the Business class lounge in Dubai.

2) Before booking the trip I decided to call Emirates and find out about J class availability on the DXB-KHI sector. No point booking the trip if J was not available at all. Only one flight the third EK flight of the day out of Dubai for Karachi at 0940 had seats, which meant I would have at least a 14 hours stopover in DXB as opposed to the 6 hours had I to get a J class seat on the flight on the red eye at 0130 after arriving into Dubai from Toronto at 1920. Bummer!

3) I decided to check Etihad at the same time and a fare of CAD 1390 showed up...wow!! Having already flown with EY three times already I was a bit more inclined to go with EK due to the A380 and of course the J class upgrade, but the dreaded 14 hour stopover was just too much. I took a day to think about what I wanted to do.

WHICH ITINARARY GAVE ME MORE DAYS IN KARACHI

I had to work within a tight two week time frame due to personal reasons. This meant I had to leave Toronto on a Sat/Sun and arrive back on a Sat/Sun two weeks later.

1) Emirates

Emirates flies out of YYZ on Mon, Wed, & Fri. This meant the first option out was on a Monday night which meant arriving into KHI on a Wed early morning. And then leaving the following week on a Friday to get back the same day while still being away for just two weeks. Flights back to Toronto leave on Mon, Wed and Fri at 0520. Total days in Karachi would be 9 days. Besides the upgrade was never guaranteed and which was one of the main reasons to fly with Emirates.

2) Etihad

Etihad flies out Sat, Tue, Thus. Excellent as departing on a Sat night works out just right for me. The return journeys out of Karachi are on Sat, Tue and Thus as well, at 0530 arriving the same day into YYZ. Total days in Karachi would be 12 days and for around CAD 160 less than Emirates (not taking into account the upgrade)

So it was a no brainer than EY was the clear winner here!! Yes I have missed out flying on the A380 but EY's 77Ws are a joy to ride on!!And so it is that I depart with EY in the next few weeks. Stay tuned for a trip report with them. I will try to do a video trip report as so many are doing it on here.

I've just come to understand that the new EK A380 terminal is going to open soon in Dubai....oh well, it is the extra days I need back home which of priority now, I can always fly EK and the A380 some other time.

So have I lost my Skywards points...No I haven't. I've ordered something for my mum from the Emirates High Street online store!! I am sure the sacrifice of the J class upgrade would be over in an hour and a half but my mum will wear her earrings and pendants happily !!

Quoting flightsimboy (Thread starter):WHAT!! So then that meant I would need to apply for a visa to get to my bags, and even pay for a hotel booking just so that I can get to my bags. This meant with neither Emirates nor Marhaba handling my bags when I get back to Dubai on the return to Toronto I would need to fend for myself.

That's just insane.

Quoting flightsimboy (Thread starter):So it was a no brainer than EY was the clear winner here!! Yes I have missed out flying on the A380 but EY's 77Ws are a joy to ride on!!And so it is that I depart with EY in the next few weeks. Stay tuned for a trip report with them. I will try to do a video trip report as so many are doing it on here.

I hope you have fun with EY and looking forward to the report!

Quoting flightsimboy (Thread starter):So have I lost my Skywards points...No I haven't. I've ordered something for my mum from the Emirates High Street online store!! I am sure the sacrifice of the J class upgrade would be over in an hour and a half but my mum will wear her earrings and pendants happily !!

Hehe, I did something similar with my Miles and More points. I turned them into a rather nice leather wallet .

Thanks for letting us know what the situation is. It will save other fellow a.netters a ton of trouble!

NOW THAT IT'S EMIRATES ALL THE WAY LET ME STOPOVER FOR A DAY (Since they can issue me the visa)

I called up Emirates to find out how much a visa would cost since I was travelling with them all the way. I believe he said it would be USD 75 or something but a remarkable difference from the Marhaba stopover package. So I was trying to work a day into the itinerary even though I was already on a very tight two week schedule.

The initial call to Emirates went like this

"I'd like to stopover in Dubai using the 96 hour transit visa. How much do you charge?"
"It's USD 75, Sir. After you have made your booking go to Manage my booking and you can book it from there. We cannot book the visa for you, you will have to do it yourself, Manage my bookings allows you that feature"
"Oh great, that is really good to know. However, I do have a friend to stay in Dubai, do I still need to book a hotel?"
"Oh no sir, if you have a friend, then you can show your friend's address in the section for addresses in Dubai"
"This is really fantastic, thank you. I will call you back should I have an difficulty"

So after not really believing what anyone in that part of the world has to say, including Emirates, as a precaution before making the booking online a few days later I decided to give Emirates a call again to reconfirm. Remember all their calls go to the call centres in India, while I think Skywards is in Dubai as a local Emirati spoke to me once. Or he could have been somebody that sounded like an Emirati local in India. Who knows? I say that because the way he said the word "Marhaba" in the sweetest way that only an Arabic language speaker would . I remember repeating it over and over much after the call had ended...it was so authentic!!

"Hi, I am just booking a stopover in Dubai, and wanted to reconfirm the steps to obtain a 96 hour transit visa"
"Yes, sir, what would you like to know"
"I have a friend in Dubai with whom I will be staying, I wanted to know if I still need to book a hotel"
"Yes sir, you have to book a hotel in order to obtain the 96 hour transit visa"
Silence from my side, as by now I had fainted!!
"I was told I could use my friend's address?, the last time I spoke to Emirates"
"No sir, you have to have a hotel booking in order to obtain the visa"

Wow, that conflicting information from Emirates themselves, was just insane. I mean what if I had to go ahead and book the stopover and then realise I could not stay with my friend on the basis for what the initial call lead me to believe. One can only got to Manage my bookings after making the booking!!

DUBAI CONNECT (Featured offered by Emirates for it's passengers connecting between Emirates flights and with a long transit in Dubai)

Interestingly while playing around with dates and bookings, I came across this feature called Dubai Connect, which is basically Emirates paying for your hotel, visa and transfer between hotels during your long transit in Dubai. The hotel too I believe is the one closest to the airport.

So while punching in dates, I noticed that if I took a flight on Thursday at 1210 instead of the Friday early morning out of Karachi that is the 0520 to connect to the Emirates flight to Toronto at 0955 I would get a stopover of 20 hours all paid for my Emirates. This would give me a few hours after arriving on Thu in Dubai, above all have the visa arranged for frree and be able to meet my friend and then fly out the next day on Friday. However due to the shortage of days on an already tight two week schedule I had to give it up . Very interesting that they would offer this as I thought it was only for the shortest connection times. Keep in mind the 1210 is the first daylight flight out, followed by the 1405, 1935 and 2225 apart from the 0540 (which is technically the first flight out each day)

Something you guys should keep in mind when booking your flights back. (Though some bizzare reason it is not showing up now when I did a dummy booking again)

How frustrating to receive conflicting information form within the same company. Perhaps EK needs to address the training and information provided at its call centres.

I have been able to benefit from EK's long transfers a couple of times in the past. They do indeed offer to provide accommodation, meals and airport transfers in DXB but there are limits. Both in-bound and out-bound flights must be on a single ticket issued by EK (number starts with 176) and in certain fare classes. The minimum transfer period for passengers in F and J is six hours, while for passengers travelling in Y it is eight hours. In all instances the maximum period is 24 hours. I think that they also impose limits as to practical connectivity to prevent people booking a seat on a later connection when there are seats available on an earlier flight.

When I travelled in Economy the hotel accommodation was at the Millennium Airport Hotel, which offers basic in-room facilities including towels, soap and bottled water. I think that the Copthorne is used now. When travelling in First or Business I have been put up at the Le Meridian Airport Hotel Dubai, where I had a ground-floor suite with a private garden.That was nice. Staying at the Millennium, the transfer was by minibus while the transfer to Le Meridian was by a private car. Vouchers were issued to be exchanged for meals suitable to the time of day. I booked the accommodation by phone and the vouchers for the accommodation, at that time, was issued at check-in and this included the visa sponsorship for on arrival visa issuance.

The process was painless but it is a shame that the call center staff are sometimes poorly informed.

thanks for that interesting insight into your travel planning. I cannot believe how complicated it is to make that stopover.

Quoting flightsimboy (Thread starter):Flying with Ethiopian though the fact they have just two flights a week ex-YYZ made it quite a risk factor considering should the flight go tech or delayed (common with ET), I would lose a number of days between the flights. So that was in the bin, though flying on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner would have been incredible.

Yes, it's not worth to take that risk. There will be many options to fly on the 787 in the future.

Quoting flightsimboy (Thread starter):Also flying with UADXB-IAD would have allowed me to compare the service on an American carrier after having flown with the middle eastern carriers on this route quite a bit.

I'm not sure whether that's a good idea...

Quoting flightsimboy (Thread starter):2) I decided to email Marhaba who very promptly replied to my query by offering details on their 96 hour transit visa package. AED 450/- (24hrs with 03star single room with complimentary hotel pickup/drop-off, subject to availability). Please bear in mind the AED 450 is for every 24 hours, so should you decide to stay the entire 96 hours it is four times the AED 450/-...Insane!!!

Wow, that's a lot!

Quoting flightsimboy (Thread starter):So have I lost my Skywards points...No I haven't. I've ordered something for my mum from the Emirates High Street online store!!

Quoting Quokkas (Reply 3):How frustrating to receive conflicting information form within the same company. Perhaps EK needs to address the training and information provided at its call centres.

Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 4): I cannot believe how complicated it is to make that stopover.

What totally baffled me is that it was not just EK, but Skywards and Marhaba as well. Everyone at that world renowned airport was dishing out their own versions lol. Understandably my case might have been a bit different (though I know many who might be in my situation and might have faced the same dilemma)

When one EK staff told me that I did not need hotel accomodation and one did saying I would, that was the final straw...I mean you get tons of passengers booking visas under "Manage my booking". There should definitely be no conflicting information there.

Quoting Quokkas (Reply 3):The minimum transfer period for passengers in F and J is six hours, while for passengers travelling in Y it is eight hours.

I've never been for more than 8 hours in Dubai so I would not know. But hotel accomodation at the Airport hotel has been provided to some people I know

Quoting Quokkas (Reply 3):In all instances the maximum period is 24 hours. I think that they also impose limits as to practical connectivity to prevent people booking a seat on a later connection when there are seats available on an earlier flight.

I did find that quite fascinating that leaving 20 hours before got one the Dubai Connect, as that option would probably be for the one with the closest connection not the first one out that day. Maybe I should have availed it then but again for a few hours I doubt it would make a difference. Don't forget customs and immigration can take hours at Dubai.

Looking forward to your video report. Yes, I do believe you about the joy of flying EY’s 77W. I am already so excited to learn that EY will commence a daily flight to AMS next May 15, even though 332 will be deployed.

Quoting flightsimboy (Thread starter):So have I lost my Skywards points...No I haven't. I've ordered something for my mum from the Emirates High Street online store!! I am sure the sacrifice of the J class upgrade would be over in an hour and a half but my mum will wear her earrings and pendants happily !!

flightsimboy, such gesture makes me melt right away. I am so proud of you being the man who makes his mother happy. Bravo! Bravo!

Flightsimboy, I hope you will have wonderful, enjoyable and memorable flights with EY. Please pass on my regards to your mother.

Quoting akhmad (Reply 6):January 6 happens to be my birthday and just then you reveal a small part of your upcoming trip. What a coincidence!

Belated Happy Birthday. And how nice to learn something new about you Suryo! I shall remember Jan 6 as being a special day going forward!!

Quoting akhmad (Reply 6):May I compliment you for the meticulous SWOT analysis prior to making your travel decision?

Quoting akhmad (Reply 6):I had never thought that a transit in Dubai could be so complicated. So sad!

I just decided to share my experiences as I am sure there are others who do not get visas on arrival, and would probably face the same dilemma if trying to transit without a visa at Dubai, using Emirates or Marhaba while travelling on two seperate tickets.

Seems like you either travel fully with Emirates or fully with two seperate airlines using Marhaba, but never a combination of the two services together.

Quoting akhmad (Reply 6):Oh no! EK has made me believe that it would be so easy to request an upgrade.

Maybe it's faster but from what I've read on FT it sometimes appears to be 24 hours before departure for some. Too much of a risk especially when you consider one of the reasons to fly with them was the upgrade.

Quoting akhmad (Reply 6):Flightsimboy, I hope you will have wonderful, enjoyable and memorable flights with EY.

I found a surprise a few days back due to a date change. I could barely believe my eyes, but all I can say is if things remain as they are it should make an interesting report for one sector. And no I am not talking about an upgrade or anything like that...well an upgrade of another kind though lol

Quoting akhmad (Reply 6):flightsimboy, such gesture makes me melt right away. I am so proud of you being the man who makes his mother happy. Bravo! Bravo!

Suryo I will definitely pass my wishes to her. As I type this I so clearly remember the pic of you and your mum which you posted on here.

Quoting akhmad (Reply 6): I am already so excited to learn that EY will commence a daily flight to AMS next May 15, even though 332 will be deployed.

I hope someday you do get a chance to fly with them!!! Love the colours of the aircraft, their uniforms and while the service can be a hit and miss, they do take care of you well with the IFE and numerous services during the flight. Especially their unique dessert service after the meals, and the seperate run of either ice cream and caramel popcorn...Hmmm especially great while watching a movie lol